M'PESDIX A. PART 11. C83 



the grief this terrible aeeident caused us — as \vc were all very fond of him — aud 

 it was long before we ceased to mourn the loss of as kind and good, true and iaithful 

 a servant as ever Christian could be." 



MUSA PAKADISTACA (Page 204). 



As Burma is emphatically a plautain-growiug country, I give tlio following 

 extract ' for the informatiou of those who may be inclined to try, even on a small 

 scale, the manufacture of plantain fibre for exportation : — 



"The extraction of plantain fibre is accomplished in two ways, the first by 

 machine-crushing, and the second by fermentation. The tree is cut by a single 

 stroke of a hatchet or cutlass, six inches above the surface of the ground ; the trunk 

 is then divided longitudinally into four parts, and the heart is taken out, which is 

 always left for manure. One man can cut and split 800 trees in a day. If fermen- 

 tation is decided on, the trees are left upon the ground until the juice and sap are 

 separated from the fibre, when considerable weight will have been lost, ancl the 

 labour of transportation much reduced. On the other hand, if the tree is not 

 subjected to this process, it must be carried to the mill at once, and passed through 

 the rollers, which are a foot in diameter, and about three feet long. In crushing, 

 the tender layers arc separated from those which are harder and riper, and the 

 dilferent kinds passed through the mill lengthwise, the rollers being placed horizon- 

 tally. The produce is about 4 pounds of fibre to each tree. The stalks of the 

 branches give the best fibi'e, and a larger quantity as compared with the body of the 

 tree. One hundred pounds of stalk will give about 15 ])ounds of fibre, not weight, 

 and when a whole tree furnishes 4 pounds of fibre, one-fourth of the quantity is 

 deiived from the stalks. One hundred plantain trees can be crushed in twenty 

 minutes, with one horse, allowing five minutes for I'est. 



" After cnishing, the fibre is boiled to separate the gluten and colouring mattir, 

 carbonate of soda and lime being used as chemical agents. 



"To make three tons of fibre a day, it is necessary to have fom- boilers of 800 

 gallons each, and give five boilings in a day, which amounts to 1G.50 pounds of net 

 fibre for each boiler or 6600 pounds for the four boilers. They require about 300 

 pounds of soda and a proportionate amount of quicklime. As the different grades 

 of fibre are pressed sejjarately, they should also be kept separate in the process of 

 boiling, the lighter fibres re(|uii-iug about six hours to bleach, while the darkest 

 require fully eighteen. Levers are arranged to lift the mass from the kettles or 

 tank when sufficiently boiled, allowing it to tbain into the boiler before it is carried 

 away to be waslied. 



" The washing should be thorough, that no extraneous matter may be left upon 

 the fibre, and the work is done by machinery, such as is used by paper-makers, or 

 the arrowroot-makers in the West Indies. After a thorough washing it is hung up 

 to dry, and when thoroughly dried is ready for baling, hydraulic pressure being used 

 for tjfic pui-pose." 



ORIGIIi OF MYTHS (Page 210, note). 



In his preface to ' Zoological llythology,' De Gubernatis thus alludes to the 

 relationship between many a Christian myth and its pagan ]irototype : — " It is by no 

 means true that the ancient systems of jfythology have ceased to exi.st ; they have 

 only been diffused and transfornuHl. The nomen is changed, the numcn remains. The 

 splendour is diminished because it has lost its celestial reference and significance, 



because it has become more earthly ; but its vitality is still enormous Nothing 



clings more to the earth, nothing is more vegetative than a superstition. A scientific 

 truth requires years and sometimes centuries of demonstration before it can obtain for 

 itself general acceptance, and, rather than suffer martyrdom, its defender will 

 generally prefer to succumb to the infamous Papal motto ' Laudabiliter se subjccit,' 

 but an error that is founded upon a sense of the supernatural does not need the 



' Xew Commercial I'lants and Drugs, Xo. G, p. 19, C'liristj' aud Co., 153, FcnchMcli Street, London. 



